Into history-based real-time strategy games and possibly dressing the part while playing them? Then you'll surely appreciate this week's giveaway prize, an ancient helmet (well, an ancient plastic helmet anyway) -- signed by the Age of Empires Online development team, no less.

Age of Empires Online, the latest installment in the Age of Empires series published by Microsoft Studios, lets you start your own Greek civilization and expand it from a village to an empire while playing with friends online.

The game came out last year and got a big update a few weeks ago when developer Gas Powered Games moved from a free-to-try model to a free-to-play model, with all premium content now available through gameplay.

That's all well and good, but what to wear while playing? Well, that's where our helmet comes in (please note that it has been lightly worn by CNET's Josh Lowensohn, but only to model it for the photo at right). Normally, the headgear would cost you about $100, but you have the chance to don one for free. So how do you go about doing that? Well, there are a few rules, so please prepare for battle and listen up.

Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the Join CNET link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.

Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful, it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.

Leave only one comment. You may enter for this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.

The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Age of Empires helmet signed by the Age of Empires Online development team, with a retail value of approximately $100.

If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. The winner must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.

Entries can be submitted until Monday, July 16, at 12 p.m. ET.

And here's the disclaimer that our legal department said we had to include (sorry for the caps, but rules are rules):

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. YOU HAVE NOT YET WON. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OLD OR AGE OF MAJORITY, WHICHEVER IS OLDER IN YOUR STATE OF RESIDENCE AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, July 16, 2012. See official rules for details.

About the author

Leslie Katz, Crave's senior editor, heads up a team that covers the most crushworthy (and wackiest) tech, science, and culture around. As a co-host of the now-retired CNET News Daily Podcast, she was sometimes known to channel Terry Gross and still uses her trained "podcast voice" to bully the speech recognition software on automated customer service lines. E-mail Leslie.
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